


Croc

by yeaka



Category: Star Trek, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 21:31:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 652
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21435022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yeaka/pseuds/yeaka
Summary: Will and Deanna have a relaxing mud bath.
Relationships: William Riker/Deanna Troi
Kudos: 19





	Croc

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own Star Trek or any of its contents, and I’m not making any money off this.

Deanna Troi is easily one of the most beautiful women William Riker has ever seen, which is saying something, because he’s seen his fair share of humans and aliens alike. She maintains that art even on a starship, working just as hard if not more so than William does himself. But it really shines when she gets a few minutes of _peace_, when she’s finally off duty and can relax the way she wants. That’s the main reason William gives in and lets her choose their shared activity. She wants to have a mud bath, and even though it’s not exactly William’s idea of fun, he’s the sort of person that will try anything once. More importantly, he’s quite happy to share any sort of bath with her. 

Unfortunately, the mud’s too opaque to see anything beneath her shoulders. It covers most of her chest, obscuring all the rarer sights, but her face is pretty enough, especially at rest. Her dark lashes are down against her cheeks, tight curls drawn up behind her head, and she’s calmly reclined against the rim of their pool. If he didn’t know better, he’d think she was asleep, or maybe even meditating. He sits back and lets her enjoy her moment, while he enjoys the view. 

Then he sees something shift beneath the surface, and William’s head whips around. He stares at where he thought he saw a hard bump emerge. Nearby, the mud’s texture clumps together, rising slightly, and a dark green, leathery exterior slithers out, gone again in a heartbeat. It’s incredibly unsettling. William snaps to attention, sitting up straight. He stares intently at the mud until a muzzle pokes through, opening just enough to show pointed white teeth before it sinks back out of sight. 

William’s whole body goes cold, because _there’s an alligator with them._ Their bath’s the size of a small pool, with no attendants around—just the two of them. He opens his mouth to warn Deanna but hesitates, because this is her program. Maybe there’s _supposed_ to be animals in the mud. He can’t imagine why, but he also doesn’t pretend to understand why anyone willingly sits in mud. The holodeck safeties must be on—surely they can’t be eaten. Still, it’s extremely disconcerting to know that there’s something squirming around his naked body, just out of sight. 

Something brushes against his leg. William jumps. Then the alligator rises up, its full, enormous length breaching the surface, its yellow eyes fixed squarely on Deanna. It slinks closer, jaw opening, rows of giant teeth glimmering in the artificial sun, and William reacts on pure instinct. He lurches forward, shouting, “Deanna, run!” She startles, eyes flying open as he latches around the alligator, trying to wrestle it down, but he loses footing and almost drowns. The alligator thrashes him with its massive tail and slithers right out of his grip. 

He turns to watch it curl up at Deanna’s side, and she lifts a hand to stop him charging after it. He stumbles back, stunned. Deanna actually _glares_ at him, demanding, “What did you do that for?”

“Wh...” William gestures vaguely at the alligator. 

It snaps its teeth, makes a pathetic whining noise, and nuzzles into Deanna’s shoulder. She pets it and makes a cooing sound, promising, “Shh, he won’t hurt you...”

“You put _alligators_ in your baths?”

“They’re a part of the Parallax colony,” she tells him, as though it’s perfectly normal and he should know that. “They’re friendly.”

William’s... confused. The alligator seems to be grinning smugly at him; it’s pressed up against Deanna’s warm body and getting more love than he is. 

Because he knows that arguing won’t help his case, William settles back, but he keeps his eyes on his competition. He takes comfort in knowing it’ll disappear when their bath ends, and then at least he’ll have Deanna all to himself, naked in the empty room.


End file.
